Morpho-anatomical Characterization of Ixora coccinea L.

var coccinea (Rubiaceae)

Michelle Kate Arsolon, Marc Julian Manongdo, Cello Jeon Sta. Ana
Natural Sciences Department, College of Arts and Sciences, Trinity University of Asia
ABSTRACT
This study presents investigations on the morphological and anatomical characteristics of Ixora coccinea L. var coccinea, a dwarf cultivar, commonly known in the Philippines as Santan and in other countries as the Dwarf Red Ixora or Scarlet Jungle Flame. The plant specimen was collected in the College of Arts and Sciences garden, Trinity University of Asia. For morphological studies, general characteristics of the plant were compared to that in the Flora of Manila of E.D. Merrill (1912). For the anatomical studies, free-hand sections of were mounted temporarily in water, and observed and photographed under a light microscope. The study was limited to the stem, leaf, flower, fruit, and seed. The leaves are 26-35 mm, base cordate to semiamplexicaul, apex acute. Stem lignified, round, diameter 4-12 mm, height less than 2 m, 4-12 mm internodes. Flowers red, tube 27-30 mm, lobes 8-10 mm. Fruit 8-12 mm, berry. Seed 6-9 mm, brown and hairy.

RESULTS
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le gp ph xy gp pi ue

DISCUSSIONS
Our findings 3-12 mm 4-12 mm Opposite 26-35mm 8-11mm Cordate-semi-amplexicaul Acute <1mm Green 3-5mm Needle-like Green Cymose compound umbel Pink-red 6-11 2-4mm <1mm Gamopetalous 27-30mm 8-10mm Epipetalous 2-3mm Light brown-yellow 1-2mm Red-yellow Inferior 1-2mm Red 26-30mm White/yellow-red Berry 8-12mm Green-red-dark purple 6-9mm Brown
b a d a

Table 1. Comparison of morphological characters of Ixora coccinea L. var coccinea based on our study and the Flora of Manila. Morphological Characteristics Stem diameter Internode length Phyllotaxy Leaf length Leaf width Leaf base Leaf apex Petiole length Petiole color Stipule length Stipule shape Stipule color Inflorescence type Inflorescence color Florets per umbel Peduncle length Pedicel length Corolla type Corolla tube length Corolla lobe length Androecium type Anther length Anther color Filament length Filament color Ovary type Stigma length Stigma color Style length Style color Fruit type Fruit size Fruit color Seed size Seed color Flora of Manila Not specified Not specified Opposite 50-90mm Not specified Cordate- rounded Obtuse-apiculate Not specified Not specified Present but not specified Not specified Not specified Cymose compound umbel Pink-red Not specified Not specified Not specified Gamopetalous 20mm 8 mm Not specified Not specified Not specified Not specified Not specified Inferior Not specified Not specified Not specified Not specified Berry Not specified Not specified Not specified Not specified

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ue pp gc

INTRODUCTION
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Ixora is a genus under the family Rubiaceae. Ixora is a genus of more than 400 species chiefly in tropical Africa and Asia; there are around 20 species in the Philippines. It is used as ornamentals because of their colorful blooms. (Merrill, 1912). The coccinea cultivar (Puff, 2007), also known as the Dwarf Red variety, will be the focus of this morpho-anatomical study. The Santan is a perennial flowering shrub that occurs throughout the Philippines as ornamental plants. In addition to its ornamental beauty, its medicinal properties are very well studied; it includes such properties as: antiinflammatory and anti-histamine effect (Ratnasooriya et al, 2005), antidiarrhea effect (Maniyar et al, 2010), anti-oxidant properties (Saha et al, 2008), anti-microbial activity (Annapurna, 2002), and cytotoxic and antitumor properties (Latha et al, 1998) among others. However, resources on morphological and anatomical studies of the plant are scarce. The aim of the researchers is to characterize the morpho-anatomy of the Santan.

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sc st

Ixora coccinea and its variety coccinea are distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions scattered around the world. The observation of both morphological anatomical characteristics of Ixora coccinea are presented in this study. The results of the morphological studies are shown in the above table. By comparing the observed measurements of the stem, leaves, fruit, flower, and seed to the descriptions given in the Flora of Manila E.D. Merrill, it was observed that the macro-morphological characters given by Merrill was rather incomplete considering that it was just done to discern the species from others. Furthermore, the described plant was the normal I. coccinea and not the dwarf variety. The measurements taken by the researchers are significant because there arent many studies on the morpho-anatomy of Ixora coccinea L. var coccinea. Therefore, this study may be the basis for other researchers and they may improve it by studying the anatomy more closely.

Fig.2. Microscopic views of Ixora coccinea L. var coccinea leaf: a) stellate trichome, b) midrib xs, c) lamina xs, d) cyclocytic stomates. gc-guard cell, gpground parenchyma, le-lower epidermis, ph-phloem, pi-pith, pm-palisade mesophyll, sc-subsidiary cell, sm-spongy mesophyll, st-stomata, ue-upper epidermis, vb-vascular bundle, xy-xylem

Fig.1. Pictures of the Ixora coccinea L. var coccinea plant. a) cymose compound umbel inflorescence, b) uncommon 6-petalled floret, c) a small plant showing a fibrous root system coupled with a taproot, the stem, and the leaves.

METHODOLOGY
The plant specimens were collected from the College of Arts and Sciences garden, Trinity University of Asia. Morphological studies were carried out on fresh specimens and were compared to the Flora of Manila (Merrill, 1912). For morphological studies, the phyllotaxy, leaves, leaf bases and apices, petioles, stipules, peduncles and pedicels, inflorescence type, corolla tubes and lobes, androecium, anthers and filaments, gynoecium, stigmas and styles, fruits, and seeds were measured and characterized. For anatomical studies, free-hand peels were made from the adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces, floral epidermis, and fruit exocarp; free-hand sections of the midrib and stem was also done. In addition, an epidermal peel of the leaf using cellulose tape, pollen mount, and seed dissection was also conducted. The stem was stained with fast green and safranin solutions. The slides were examined and photographed under a light microscope.
RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN 2011

The plant measurements and its comparison to the Flora of Manila are listed in Table 1. The observed anatomical description of the plant are as follows. Leaf surface glabrous and leathery. Adaxial and abaxial epidermis uniseriate (Fig.2). Leaf hypostomatous with cyclocytic stomates (Fig.2d). Stellate trichomes present (Fig.2a). Mesophyll dorsiventral. Spongy mesophyll cells large and spherical, forms wide air chambers, 4 to 5 rows; palisade mesophyll cells bilayered, columnar and compact (Fig.2c). Both the spongy and palisade mesophyll contain chlorophyll. Midrib vascular system composed of adaxially flattened closed cylinder of xylem and phloem (Fig.2b). Stem circular, lignified. Rough bark. Internode widening towards next node. Stem hairs present, unicellular. Phelloderm biseriate and phellem triseriate; epidermal cells rectangular. Cortex multiseriate, parenchyma round to oval, contains amyloplasts. Phloem not clearly observed, shown as dark brown band. Xylem relatively and varyingly thick, xylem rays numerous, uniseriate. Pith composed of round parenchyma, contains amyloplasts (Fig.3). Cymose compound umbel inflorescence (Fig.1a) consisting of 6-11 florets per umbel. Corolla gamopetalous, pigmented red by anthocyanins. Androecium epipetalous; anthers 2-celled. Pollen grains yellow and round (Fig.3b). Fruit a berry from inferior bilocular ovary with axial placentation. Young fruits green, mature fruits red to dark purple. The pericarp of mature fruits are pigmented by anthocyanins (Fig.4a). Fig.5 shows the different stages in the development of the I. coccinea L. var coccinea fruit. Fruit biovulate. Seed coat brown, rough, shedding with medial hilum and micropyle. Embryo consisting of plumule, epicotyl, hypocotyl, radicle, and cotyledons.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the College of Arts and Sciences of Trinity University of Asia for allowing us to collect the specimens needed for this study. Without the specimens, conducting this study would have been impossible. We are truly grateful to Mrs. Elizabeth O. Canlas for her support and guidance to us in conducting this study. Without her help, we would not have known what to do with this study. We would also like to thank our fellow classmates have also help us for the completion of our study. Without their moral support, the stress of conducting this study would have been unbearable. We would also like to thank our parents who provided us with the financial resources to complete this study. Julian would like to thank Stefani Germanotta and her very inspiring music for keeping him entertained throughout the long and sleepless nights of while making this study. And lastly, Kate would like to thank the omnipresent God for constantly giving her the wisdom and the knowledge we needed for this study.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Fig.3. Radial section of I. coccinea L. var coccinea stem. a) stem hairs, b) biseriate phellem, c) triseriate phelloderm, d) cortex containing amyloplasts, e) phloem, f) xylem and xylem rays, g) pith containing amyloplasts.

Fig.4. a) anthocyanin pigment of I. coccinea L. var coccinea fruit pericarp, b) round pollen grains.

Fig.5. Picture showing different stages of development of I. coccinea L. var coccinea fruit.

Annapurna, J., et al. (2003). Antimicrobial activity of Ixora coccinea leaves. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. Laha, P.G., et al. (1998). Cytotoxic and antitumour principles from Ixora coccinea flowers. http://www.cancerletters.info/article/S03043835(98)00140-2/, Retrieved October 10, 2011. Maniyar, Y., et.al (2010) Antidiarrheal activity of flowers of Ixora Coccinea L. in rats. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3117321/, Retrieved October 11, 2011. Merill, E.D. (1912). Flora of Manila. The Bookmark Inc., Manila. Puff (2007). Flora of Thailand. Ratnasooriya, W.D., et al. (2005). Anti-inflammatory activity of the aqueous leaf extract of Ixora coccinea. Pharmaceutical Biology. Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 147152. Saha, R., et al. (2008). In vitro free radical scavenging activity of Ixora coccinea L. Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology. Vol. 3, pp. 90-96. Vadivu, R. (2010). Pharmacognostical standaridaztion of leaves of Ixora coccinea L. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research.

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